Too Short To Dance
by Hakai
Summary: PG only because of shounen-ai content. or should it be pg-13? -shrugs- please RnR!


Too Short to Dance

By: Hakai

Disclaimer: I Hakai don't own anything Fullmetal Alchemist related. They belong to their respectful owners. Beware bad writing skills.

Warnings: RoyxEd. Shounen-ai. Would you expect anything other then? Y'know, I think I've almost forgotten what het is! O.o oh yeah, to hell with episode 51, I can make my own ending up if I want! It's fandom after all. l0l.

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Edward unhooked the top button of his collared shirt as he let out a long sigh. Why, oh why, had he let Al talk him into this? Sure Ed was happy that they had finally gotten their bodies restored. And he was happy that Winry and Al had finally decided to go on a date. He was also happy that it was a nice party in Central that Winry's city friend had invited them too. He was not, however, happy about his brother and childhood friend making him, Edward Elric, go to this party as well.

It wasn't that he was anti-social. Really. Given the right topic and person, he could be quite the eloquent gentlemen. No lie. But he highly doubted that Central's citizens included those that indulged themselves in alchemical books and theories. What were the chances of that?

So here he was, the infamous Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, sitting next to the drinks and snacks at a big party just like some hopeless loser. It wasn't his fault really. Actually, it was good to be near the refreshments. At least he didn't have to go far for a drink, right? He sighed. Al and Winry owed him big time for this.

"Nii-san." Al groaned as Ed looked up at his brother. "I can see you sighing from across the dance floor. Really. You could at least ask some girl to dance with you!"

"Why?" Ed demanded taking another sip of his drink.

"Because," Al stated matter-of-factly. "You're bored. You may as well do _something_!"

The braided blonde sighed again, defeated. "Fine." He said. "Pick someone."

"Hm…" The younger Elric hummed turning to the dance floor. "Let's see… There's Celia… oh, but she just broke up with her boyfriend. No good. Um… Alice! She's even sitting down! Not dancing at all yet!" Al said excitedly pointing out a pretty brunette across the room. "And I know she just _loves_ to dance. But she's very old fashioned and sits there waiting for a guy to ask her to. Why don't you go, Nii-san?"

Edward shrugged. "I suppose it can't hurt." Al nodded vigorously giving his older brother one of his brightest smiles. "And after that I can leave?"

"I promise!" Alphonse agreed placing his hand on his heart. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Winry'll be wanting another dance."

With Al not too far away, Edward decided that it was in his best interest to keep to his word and ask that… Alice… for a dance. Leisurely, Edward began to stand up. First he pulled down the sleeves of his jacket that had begun to wrinkle. Then the dust on his pants need attending to, then the bit of lint on his collar, the shoelaces tied, and then… well, and then he ran out of things to adjust.

In his experience it was better to hurry up and get over with the inevitable. But when had Edward ever listened to reason? Out of the corner of his eye he could feel Alphonse glaring at him. If looks could kill… Well, they'd need to send him home in a paper bag. So with yet another sigh, the blonde alchemist began to make his way around the grounded dance floor and over to the brunette Al had indicated earlier.

Upon closer inspection she really was quite pretty. Her auburn hair was twisted up, similar to Hawkeye's, and thin glasses framed brilliant green eyes. She really was quite attractive, if not a little plain. But plain was cute. Maybe he _would_ play the gentlemen tonight. If only for his entertainment.

"Good evening, miss." Edward greeted with a slight bow. Alice giggled a little and nodded her head by way of greeting. In his head, Ed was smirking. All those years of hanging around Roy Mustang would pay off. "My name's Edward. What's yours?" A stupid question. He told himself. He already knew. But, formalities were formalities. And formalities were necessary traditions one simply couldn't afford to break.

"Alice. It's nice to meet you Edward. And how do you know Christine?" She asked tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

_Christine?_ He asked himself. Must be the hostess. "A friend of mine's is a friend of her's."

"I see." She said smiling. And she had a pretty smile. Not beautiful. Not the kind of smile that could light up an entire room like Alphonse's or his mother's, but pretty non-the-less. Just sweet enough to make you want to smile back.

"I saw you sitting all alone." Edward said trying his best to give her a charming smile. If he was going to do this, he was going to do this right. "Would you care to dance?"

"Oh." Alice blushed and dropped her gaze. "I…"

"Don't you dance?" Ed asked sweetly. He'd kill Alphonse if the girl didn't like dancing after all. He already felt foolish as it was.

"No… I do…" She said still not quite meeting eye contact. "It's just… It's just that…" The golden-eyed alchemist waited. So she did dance. That was a relief. But why the long pauses? Maybe she didn't dance with stranger. Or maybe she really _did_ have a boyfriend and he was just in the bathroom or something. If that was the case, forget dead, Alphonse was as good as buried.

"I don't dance with shorter guys!" She blurted out at last, turning beet red. "I-I'm sorry." The brunette apologized before running in the direction of the restroom. _That_ Edward decided, had been the last thing he had expected from this girl.

"Nii-san!" Al called running over to his brother. "Did you make Alice cry? Nii-san?" He asked shaking the paralyzed Edward. "Nii-san? Are you alright?"

The braided alchemist shook his head of the shock and turned to his brother. "I'm fine, Aru. I just… I'll meet you at home, okay?" Ed assured his brother with a weak smile.

And before the gray-eyed teen could say anything, Edward was gone.

"Is something wrong?" Winry asked coming up behind the younger Elric.

"I think so…" Al said staring in the direction his brother had left.

"You should go find him." The blond mechanic said pushing Alphonse gently in the direction of the door.

"But what about you?" He asked turning back.

"I was about to leave anyway." Winry said smiling. "Now go find Ed. Hurry up!"

And with a nod the younger brother was gone too.

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"No, I'm sorry Alphonse-kun." Roy Mustang apologized into the phone. "He didn't come here."

"I see." He heard the younger of the Elric brothers said on the other line. "He didn't come home last night. So I thought… well, if you see him…"

"Yes. I'll tell you." Roy assured him. "Yes. Okay… Good luck finding him." Expecting to hear the clicking of the receiver he was a little surprised to find it drowned out by a knock on his office door. "Come in." He called checking his desk drawer for a new pen.

"Taisa…"

And maybe it was the unfamiliar emotion in the familiar voice, or maybe the way the word was half choked out, but whatever the case, his pen could wait. This would come first. "Fullmetal." Roy greeted, gesturing for Edward to take a seat. Ed did. "Your brother's worried about you. Let me just inform him of your whereabouts and we can talk." The military man said reaching for his phone. But the blonde placed his hand on his, preventing him from making the call.

"No." Ed insisted. "I'll go back right after. I promise."

"Alright, Fullmetal." Roy nodded. "So what can I do for you."

The braided teen shrugged. "Nothing. Don't mind me, really. I'll be gone soon enough." And for once, the Flame Alchemist obeyed. After all, if he didn't want Hawkeye to bother him about his work again, he had better get started.

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So the time ticked by, and still Edward did not leave. It was fine though. The conformable atmosphere of a familiar person nearby was, well, comfortable.

Roy had just finished adding the last flourish to his signature when Ed finally decided to speak up. "Taisa," He said neither looking up from his book nor taking in the words before him. "You've had a lot of girlfriends, right?"

"Hm…" Roy hummed shuffling a stack of papers. "I suppose one could say that."

"How were they?"

"Excuse me?" The older man was caught a bit off guard.

"I mean, their personalities. Were they nice?" Ed asked setting his book down and folding his legs onto the couch.

"Most of them were nice, yes. Of course there are always the exceptions."

Ed nodded. "Were they… shorter then you?"

Roy paused and made eye contact with the younger alchemist. "What are you getting at, Fullmetal?"

"Well," Ed began not really wanting to talk about it. "there was this party last night. I didn't really want to go. Al and Winry made me though."

"Understood." Roy nodded.

"And I was bored so Al said I should go dance with a girl. They girl I talked to seemed nice, actually. But when I asked her to dance…" The blonde trailed off. Did he _have_ to continue?

"She said she didn't dance with shorter men." Roy finished off for him.

"Yeah." Ed confirmed a little shocked. "How'd you know?"

"Fullmetal," Roy said shaking his head. "I'm not all that tall myself. And though some women actually _like_ their men shorter or don't really care, there are always those who _do_." He said simply. "You were just unfortunate enough to have to deal with one of them."

"Ah." Edward replied a little too apathetically.

"You didn't _like_ this girl, did you?" Roy asked.

"No." The alchemist denied quickly. "Of course not!"

"Then it should not be bothering you so much."

"It shouldn't." Ed agreed. "But… I don't know… You _know_ I'm a little self-conscious about my height." Roy raised an eyebrow. "Okay, a lot! The point is… well, I don't know what the point is. But somehow her words stung. It struck home somehow."

The flame alchemist nodded in understanding. "Fullmetal, is there someone you love now?"

Edward paused but a moment before replying, "I don't think it's quite 'love', but yeah. There's someone."

"Taller then you?"

"I'd feel sorry for them if they _weren't_." Ed laughed.

"Do you think that person would care about your height?" Roy asked.

Edward twitched in his seat. That was a good question. "I… I'd like to think not."

"You should ask them." Mustang advised placing his pen back in its drawer. When Roy finally appear from below his desk he found a smirking Edward leaning over his desk.

"Okay. Now I have two questions for _you_, Taisa." Ed purred. "Do you care if your lover is a guy? _And_ do you care if he's shorter then you?"

Roy smirked. "That all the depends on who _he_ is." The colonel replied before capturing the younger alchemist's mouth in his.

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"Any luck, Winry?" Alphonse called over his shoulder.

"No. Sorry, Al." Winry apologized.

"I guess I'll try calling the colonel again." The blonde boy said stepping into a nearby phone booth.

"Yes? This is Mustang speaking." Alphonse heard when the operator had finally connected him to the colonel's office.

"Taisa! It's Alphonse. Any word from my brother?" Al asked almost desperately.

"Hm…? Oh, yes. Edward is fine. He said he's sorry for making you worry and he'll be back… in the morning." Alphonse raised an eyebrow. Had the colonel just called his brother 'Edward'? And was that… someone _giggling _just now?

"Um… so then he called in?"

"Eh? Yes, yes. He did." Roy said hastily. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Alphonse-kun. I have paperwork I need to finish before tonight."

"Ah. Yes, of course! I'm sorry for bothering you, sir. Good-bye." Al said before hanging up.

"Has he heard from Ed?" Winry asked anxiously as Al emerged from the phone booth.

"Yes. He said Nii-san told him he'd come home tomorrow morning."

"That's good." Winry said relieve. "But then why do you still looks so nervous?"

"I don't know." The younger teen replied. "I just can't help but feel like something's… wrong."

Winry shrugged. "I wouldn't dwell on it too long, Al. It's probably nothing."

"You right." Al agreed.

"Now then, about that dinner you promised me?"

"Oh, alright." Al said smiling. "What do you want to eat?"

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"Edward," Roy said addressing the blonde sitting in his lap. "I would appreciate it if you did not nibble at my ear while I'm on the phone with your brother. Do you _want _me to have an early death?!"

"Is that a trick question?" Ed asked sounding bored.

"Funny, Edward." Roy smirked. "And I was just about to answer your previous question."

"Question?" The braided teen asked.

The black-haired-man nodded. "Yes. I've come to a conclusion."

"Oh?"

"I like shorter males because by rule of thumb, I automatically get to be seme."

"Hey!" Edward shouted. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE SHOULD BE UKE!!"

"You, of course."

"Heh." Ed chuckled leaning into Roy's ear. "Want to see me top?" He purred.

Roy smirked. "I sense a challenge."

"But of course!"

-Owari. End. Fin.

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a/n: what didja think? Drabble, kinda. Was written just because I wanted a girl to reject Ed because he's short and I wanted him to "torture" Foy while on the phone with Aru. l0l. Please review!!


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